A super fun fighting game
Street Fighter II is an amazing game, probably one of the best fighting games I've ever played. First off, the game looks beautiful to me. Cartoony graphics tickle my fancy, possibly because they are a lot easier on the eyes than some of the more detailed graphics of 2010, and the sprites still hold their beauty even 18 or so years later. The music is also very good in this game, perfect if you like to listen to game soundtracks like I do. There's something about this game ; the sound design and the subtle pauses after you hit a high impact move, the way a fighter falls after you hit a high impact move, some of the animations, they make you feel like you're a king and really ad to the experience....when you can get a hit in.
The Street Fighter II AI is amazing when you know how to play. They don't tell you how to play. This is my biggest gripe with this game. Up until hours ago when I beat the game, I could understand how other people liked it, but I thought it could never be for me. I felt it was incredibly cheap. I got this same feeling before I got better at doing some of the special moves. Plus the fact that you get dizzy after 3 straight hits, which seemed like overkill ( of course, once you're at that point you're sunk anyway, but it helps you when you have somebody else at that point ). Everything changed when I went online to find out how to do the most valuable move: block. That is when everything became amazing. Where the game became more about strategy, looking at what your opponent is doing and how to appropriately react, than just running in.
The AI at times blocks certain moves or hits you when you do certain moves when they wouldn't in another round. You have to lpay attention to this to see what moves will fly where and when. You also have to learn to block at the right times because one move unblocked could really cost you the whole match. Nothing in this game feels cheap once you understand how it works, or even understand it just a little bit like I do. I feel like there was always something I could do that I'm just not good enough to know. When I win I feel like I'm a master. There doesn't seem to be much luck involved when you really understand it.
M/. Bison is the best boss I've ever played. He was difficult, but it was addicting. I kept playing and playing and playing. Many of the fights gave me this feeling, but Bison specifically gets it perfect. It always felt like I could beat him even when I was sunk. I happened to have beat him in a draw where we both had bars that were completely rid, the time ran out, and it was given to me. The feeling of accomplishment, after who know's how long I had tried, was amazing. I don't know exactly how Bison was designed, but he certainly does things that unless you know how to do certain special moves and block, you're sunk. If it was intentional, this is brilliant because you're taking everything you've learned to beat the final boss. BUT, they don't tell you how to do anything. There are times where I felt like I was expected to do a Shoryuken during this fight but I had never learned it and I paid for it. Now imagine how this went for the people who never learned to block.
To be fair, the easy mode doesn't require you to block at all. I'd beaten that quite easily .But I still had to go on the internet to find out how to do one of the most important things in the game. It's fine that Street Fighter II or some games are like this because you have every option to play something else, but it's still frustrating and adds an unnecessary level of difficulty to play. Keep in mind I do not have the original box or manual. Maybe they put these things in the manual, in which case I would be wrong, but people don't read the manuals and shouldn't have to. Of course, in 2010, many fighting games released have fixed this problem by adding tutorials, move lists, and practice. So this just happens to be one aspect of the game that makes it seem a bit outdated because I think this kind of thing was par for the course at that time.
Super Street Fighter II Turbo is a super fighting game with great graphics, music, and a somewhat steep learning curve, but once you've gotten over the hump it becomes a lot funner than it was one easy. Though not a favorite, certainly one of the best I've ever played.